Her Look
by kmart92
Summary: Because we all know Sam should have punched Luke after he cheated, so why didn't he?


_**Disclaimer: Even if I won the lottery and had enough money to buy the show, it still wouldn't be enough. Give me Sam any day.**_

_**So, after my extremely long and unforgiveable absence, I'm back! (Cowers) Please don't hate me! Still working on my other stories and will hopefully get them up soon, but in the meantime, here's a quick one-shot that popped into my head a while ago. The problem with RB is that every time I go to write something, another story jumps in and blocks all other thought out and so now I've partially written another 20-ish stories. Gah, I need a life! Anyway, please enjoy and let me know what you all think!**_

He could feel the familiar green twinge coursing through his veins as he watched them and tried his hardest to look away and unclench his fists before he said or did something really stupid. _What the hell could they be talking about? The weather? Last week's hockey scores?_ He had almost succeeded when he saw the guy lean forward, just a fraction or so but still, into her space and give her his best _'I'm such a charming guy, you can't resist me'_ look. Sam was a barely a few seconds away from kicking back his chair and marching over there to give the unsuspecting guy a piece of his mind, when he saw Andy straighten up, throw a look over her shoulder at him and, quickly collecting their burgers and shakes, moved away from the counter and back to him.

He'd thought all his problems would be over when she was his; that he wouldn't be plagued with the same undeniable feelings of insecurity and jealousy that emerged every time he saw her with Callaghan, hell, every time he saw her with any man who was not him. _What is it with that woman, that she attracted the attention from every single guy she met?_ Why bother denying it? Sam knew exactly why every guy wanted her, why _he_ wanted her. It wasn't just her gorgeous smile that could turn his day from crap to amazing in a second, nor was it the bubble of her infectious laugh, or the way she flicked her hair, or how her eyes lit up like a little kid over a chocolate bar, or the fact that she was simply breathtakingly beautiful, or...

Sam shook his head to dislodge the rambling going on in his mind, and returned the small, sheepish smile she sent him as she zigzagged through the tables. She was perfect. She was... McNally. His heart still beat like crazy every time he saw her and realised that she was finally his, that she belonged with him. Sam knew she loved him back, he knew it, and it wasn't her fault that he always behaved like an insanely overprotective jackass around her. He just... just... argh!

"Hey!" Andy breathed as she sat down and began sorting through his order and hers. She knew he was tense, she could feel the vibe he'd sent from across the room and hoped she hadn't done too much damage to the rest of their day. It was sweet actually, that he loved her enough to want to keep her all to himself. She just wished sometimes that she could be a little less oblivious.

Sam felt his mood slip back into almost pleasant as he realised for probably the millionth time since they'd been together, that there really was nothing to get upset about. He reached over and tucked a stray hair behind her ear, letting his fingers graze Andy's cheek. "Thanks for lunch babe". Sam tried to relax his shoulders, but it seemed they would be stuck in their stiff pose until they left the diner, he only hoped she couldn't tell and would leave him to work through his idiotic macho stuff himself.

Andy stared at him as he fiddled with some fries and knew he was struggling within himself to let go. She bit her lip, feeling guilty. Andy slipped her hand into his and squeezed lightly, smiling what she hoped was a reassuring, _'I love you and I couldn't be happier if I tried_' smile when he looked up. Maybe one day she'd get him to believe it. All she got from Sam was a slight crinkling around the eyes and half-smile that dissipated just as quickly as it appeared. He flicked his eyes away from her, back to his burger, but in those few short seconds, Andy still saw the traces of jealousy that he hadn't yet removed.

She sighed and toyed with her napkin a bit, before launching full steam ahead into her usual fast-paced chattering where everything seemed to turn into one loooong sentence. "Sam, I'm sorry, ok? I swear I didn't mean to, it just happened... I... well, you know me, I just talk and talk and talk cos I can't shut up and people take it the wrong way, and it definitely didn't mean anything, I promise. Sam? You believe me, right? Cos as soon as I realised, I stopped and I... I tried to fix it, but he just... and I just..."

"Andy, stop! It's ok, don't worry about it. Everything's fine. There's nothing to apologise for, you did nothing wrong, ok?" He placed a hand on her knee to stop her from bouncing it up and down with nervous energy.

"But Sam, I wasn't flirting with that guy - or, at least I don't think I was - but it's just I never think about my actions and how they hurt you, and I'm so sorry Sam."

"Seriously Andy, it's fine. Stop panicking. I just overreacted a little again, as usual." Sam's lips turned up in a tiny self-depreciating grin, giving her a quick kiss, almost like an apology, before pointing back to their food. "C'mon, let's just eat before we get another call."

Just as they dug in, a voice interrupted them and they both turned with a half groan to see the same guy hovering beside them.

"Can I get you anything else officers?" He may have addressed both, but his attention was clearly focused on Andy, and only Andy. "A coffee? More fries? Another milkshake? Are the burgers ok? Can I..."

"No!" Andy broke in slightly too loudly. "Um, we're fine thanks. Got everything we need." She quickly dropped her head back down to study her food and hoped that the conversation was over.

"Are you sure, Officer McNally? Cos I could easily get you something else, whatever you like." His name tag read Mike, and for a young scrawny teenager like him, he sure could give a sleazy and slightly creepy smile.

"Uh, no, as _Officer McNally_ said, we're fine," Sam bit out, trying to cut the bitterness and anger from his voice, but knowing he wasn't entirely successful. He tilted his head a little and started glaring the kid down with a partially condescending partially 'leave her alone' smirk, all the while doing his best to avoid grabbing her hand, holding it like a vice grip and never letting go.

"Ok, yeah. Sure, um, no problem. Just let me know, I'll be right over there if you need anything." Mike obviously caught a whiff of the vibe emanating from Sam and decided it might be a bright idea to skedaddle. But not before glancing back at Andy and trying to catch her eye one last time. "Anything at all, Officer McNally."

"Yep, got it." Sam replied tersely, with a miniscule flick of the hand to get rid of him, and it was all he could to do not to growl like a freaking territorial lion or something.

He snorted his annoyance as the kid retreated and let out a huff as he turned back to his meal, avoiding eye-contact with her as he vainly attempted to convince himself to stop acting so immature. Hence, he missed Andy's scrutinisation of him.

Her features rearranged themself in a peculiar fashion that hardly seemed at all symmetrical. Andy's slight quirk of one eyebrow was mixed in with a frown, not of anger or disappointment, but of curiosity, like she was working out a puzzle. Her lips were pursed and yet tweaked into a smidgeon of a grin. She studied his face a few moments and the question that she'd wanted to ask for so long kept nagging at her, prodding her to finally ask.

"Why didn't you punch Luke?"

She'd blurted it out without any preamble and it definitely caught Sam by surprise. "Huh?" was the only response forthcoming from his mouth and he whipped his head up, jaw open and a fry hanging limply from his fingers only millimetres from his mouth.

"I said, 'why didn't you punch Luke?'" Andy knew he was going to deflect for a while, so she fixed him with a pointed stare and took the time to bite into her burger.

"What? When?" Of course, Sam knew exactly where she was going with this but wasn't entirely sure he wanted to answer.

"After he cheated on me." Andy slurped on her shake.

"Why _didn't_ I punch him?"

"Yep," popping the 'p' for effect, "that's what I said. I mean, you had no problem having a go at him on retraining day. I guess I just figured... you know... that it was something you would have done. Like, defending my honour 'n all."

"You _wanted_ me to punch him?" Sam shook his head in confusion and like, _what_?

"Well, I can't exactly condone it, but he totally would have deserved at least one black eye... and uh, possibly a broken nose, you know, just as a sort-of keepsake."

"Oh he definitely deserved it! Still does, if you ask me."

"So, why didn't you?"

"I... um... almost did, but I... couldn't I guess." Sam sighed as he gave in, knowing it'd dredge up some unpleasant memories. "After you told me, or rather, acknowledged it, and I, uh, um, left you, I caught up with Callaghan in the parking lot. I pushed him up against his car and we, ahem, exchanged a few words, and I was inches away from hitting him, but all I could see was your face. That look on your face when I beat him up a retraining. I was so angry back then, so pissed at myself for letting you close to me like that and then fooling myself into thinking that you'd want me instead of Callaghan. I was so mad that he was always around to take you away from me, and I just... I wanted to hurt him, _and_ you, as much as possible for making me like that, but when I stood up, and I saw your face, I knew then that I'd let you down and that thought alone broke me. And since that day I promised myself I'd never make you have that look again. So when I went to punch him, your face flashed in front of me and I could see the hurt and the disappointment and the betrayal all over again and I just couldn't do it to you. I figured you'd be pulling into the parking lot any minute and you'd know exactly what I'd done and you'd hate me for it."

"Sam, I could never hate you. In fact, I probably would have cheered you on."

He dismissed her words with shrug and wave of his hand. "I figured I could always give him shit later. But, it turns out that there are far worse things than seeing you disappointed. I should never have left you, Andy. You have no idea how much I hate myself for nearly getting you..." Sam's voice cracked at the end as his sentence broke off. He took a deep breath after she squeezed his hand a little again and nodded for him to continue. "And after... everything... you looked so helpless and fragile, like you'd lost complete faith and trust in me. That was almost worse, in a way, than seeing you in the middle of the paramedics with bruises littering your body and knowing it could have been so much more."

"I never for a second stopped trusting you Sam, you know that right?" Her voice was tiny, and tight, like she was fighting back tears as well as images.

Sam continued on as though he hadn't heard her and perhaps he didn't. "Then, when I saw your face, I just... after that, there would be nothing I would ever do to hurt you again, I promised myself that, and I vowed to be there for you and protect you from everything no matter what. And that meant I couldn't go and see Callaghan cos I'd already done too much damage and there was no way I would take a chance on losing you again. I'd screwed up so badly already and nothing was going to jeopardise that for me. I needed for you to be able to forgive me at some stage in the future, even though I didn't deserve it, because I knew I couldn't live without you." He ran his thumb over he knuckles and smiled sadly up at her. "Still can't."

Both were quiet for a couple of minutes, just absorbing his words and silently comforting each other with their presence. Slowly she brought his hand up to her lips and kissed it tenderly, looking into his eyes, conveying just how much she loved him.

"I'm sorry, Sam," Andy whispered against his skin.

"Me too, Andy," he murmured back, uncurling their fingers to cup her cheek and run his thumb over her beautiful lips.

Quietly they went back to their lunch, one hand still remaining intertwined with the other for solace, each content for the companionable silence to cover them. For the time being, anyway.

"You could always make it up to me on the _next_ retraining day." Andy grinned at him sassily, raising an eyebrow in a dare.

Sam hardly held back from rolling his eyes at her antics when she tugged at his hand to get him to look up. "Sure, McNally, whatever you say," he drolled, deadpanned.

Their radios burst into life before she could dig up a clever retort, and dumping some cash on the table they headed for the doors.

The feeling of Sam's large warm hand on the small of her back was the best kind of security she could ask for and as the butterflies began to dance in her stomach, she turned her head with a smile, hoping for one in return, but instead caught the end of the menacing glare he shot the kid behind the counter. With that, Andy shook her head and turned back away to hide her grin.

_**FIN**_

_**So, that's it. Not at all how I wanted it to end up, and in my opinion, probably should have been scrapped right from the start, but I'd already written it, so hey, why not? Hope you all didn't hate it as much as I currently do. Please review and tell me what you think cos reviews make my day.**_

_**Love you guys, thanks so much!**_


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